House passes bill honoring Wisconsin soldier

De Pere post office will be named for Cpl. Justin Ross

3:20 PM,
Mar. 26, 2014

Ron and Debbie Ross stand near the Corporal Justin Ross Memorial Trail at Mills Center Park in Howard on Tuesday. Their son was killed in March 2011 when his Army Reserve unit came under small arms fire in Afghanistan. A bill to name the De Pere post office for Justin Ross was unanimously approved by the House on Wednesday.

Written by

Donovan Slack
Gannett Washington Bureau

It is a squat, red-brick building in a Green Bay suburb, but to the family of the late Cpl. Justin Ross, the De Pere post office represents so much more - an opportunity to ensure his life and courageous death is always remembered.

On Wednesday, the third anniversary of his death, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation naming the post office for Ross, who was 22 when he was killed when his Army Reserve unit from Wausau came under small arms fire while clearing explosives in Afghanistan.

"Imagine a family back in 1988 welcoming their son onto this earth and picking him up ...